Portsmouth working on deal with Sea-3 for safety review

Tuesday

Aug 26, 2014 at 2:00 AM

NEWINGTON — The Zoning Board of Adjustment voted Monday night to delay a planned hearing on the city of Portsmouth's appeal of the Planning Board's approval of Sea-3's expansion so lawyers for the city and the propane terminal can continue to work on a potential agreement.

Jeff McMenemy

NEWINGTON — The Zoning Board of Adjustment voted Monday night to delay a planned hearing on the city of Portsmouth's appeal of the Planning Board's approval of Sea-3's expansion so lawyers for the city and the propane terminal can continue to work on a potential agreement.

Portsmouth Staff Attorney Jane Ferrini said earlier in the day the city had reached an agreement with Sea-3 for a safety assessment of the site, but they still have to negotiate the "scope of the safety-hazard study." If a final agreement can be reached, the city will drop its two appeals of the Sea-3 expansion, Ferrini said Monday.

The chairman, who conducted numerous hearings before the Planning Board approved the expansion in May, railed against the continuance, saying the ZBA had "just done Newington a huge disservice."

"They're going to come to an agreement. Portsmouth and Sea-3 are going to come to an agreement and Newington is not at the table. Are you crazy?" Hebert said. "I don't understand this. To sit there and say you're not going to allow us to have any input into an agreement about land use in Newington is absurd."

He continued to argue that the process "is being circumvented" despite the "hundreds of hours" the Planning Board spent on the matter.

"It's going to be two people sitting at a table, or two entities sitting at a table, not Newington, not residents in Newington, deciding what's going to happen in Newington," Hebert said.

Zoning Board of Adjustment Chairman Matthew Morton assured Hebert that ZBA members had read up on the case and were aware of the work the Planning Board had put into it.

The ZBA unanimously chose Sept. 15 for the next scheduled hearing — in the event the city of Portsmouth and Sea-3 can't reach a final agreement — so Planning Board members could attend the meeting.

Ferrini said the initial agreement reached to delay the hearing based on Sea-3's agreement to do a safety study on the site does not include a study of the condition of Pan Am Railways' train tracks, which city officials and area residents have repeatedly raised concerns about.

The city of Portsmouth filed appeals of the Planning Board's decision with both the ZBA and in Rockingham County Superior Court.

Alec McEachern, Sea-3's attorney, then filed an emergency petition for declaratory order with the federal Surface Transportation Board.

In the filing, he said the city's "sole objective" is to block liquefied propane gas rail car service from traveling through Portsmouth, which city officials have denied.

McEachern, who attended Monday night's brief meeting in Newington Town Hall, said the two sides have agreed to talk in the hopes of reaching an agreement and "putting the city's appeals behind us and moving on with the project."

He said Sea-3 officials thought it was worthwhile to "take some time and see if a resolution can be reached that will satisfy both and allow us to move forward."

McEachern said if they "steamrolled into litigation," they could be in court for a year.

Ferrini said Monday night the questions raised by city officials and residents about the condition of Pan Am's tracks is a "statewide concern that the mayor has reached out to the governor's office to pursue and request a statewide rail study."

Portsmouth Mayor Bob Lister recently asked Gov. Maggie Hassan for the state to "perform a comprehensive safety and risk analysis regarding all aspects of the transportation of LPG (liquefied propane gas) throughout the state."

Hassan responded by sending a letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation asking for his help in dealing with the potential impact of increased propane traffic on Pan Am Railways tracks in the Seacoast.

Citing recent train derailments in Lynchburg, Va., and Lac Megantic, Quebec, Hassan said those incidents "remind us that proper care and regulation of freight trains is essential to ensuring the safety and well-being of our people and our economy," according to a copy of the letter that was sent Thursday.

She asked Secretary Anthony Foxx to evaluate the condition of the tracks carrying propane tank cars, evaluate the proposed plans for 15 rail crossings along the track, "strengthen federal rules regarding the safety of rail cars carrying hazardous materials," and call for improved communication between rail companies, local communities and first responders.

Pan Am also recently filed a petition to intervene in support of the emergency petition filed by Sea-3 and asked the Surface Transportation Board to wait at least two weeks before making any decision in the case.

In the paperwork filed by Robert Culliford, Pan Am's attorney, he states that Sea-3, Portsmouth and Pan Am "have begun discussions toward a possible resolution of this matter."

Pan Am in the motion also states it has "substantial interest" in the outcome of the emergency petition.

Culliford states any decision "could affect the ability of Pan Am to provide rail transportation service to multiple customers on the Portsmouth and Newington branches."

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